Oregon: Providence announces they're Ore-gone: ~440,000 to lose healthcare coverage next year

And the hits just keep on coming: Via The Oregonian:

Providence to end most health insurance plans, forcing hundreds of thousands in Oregon to switch

Providence Health & Services plans to exit most of its Oregon health insurance business next year, citing rising costs, tougher regulation and intensifying competition from national insurers — a move that will force hundreds of thousands of Oregonians to find new coverage.

Leaders of the Renton, Washington-based health system announced the decision Wednesday, saying Providence will stop offering most plans through Providence Health Plan, including individual, family and employer coverage, as it seeks to strengthen its financial footing and refocus on delivering care rather than operating an insurance arm.

Jesus. When I first read the headline I assumed this was only referring to them pulling out of the ACA market, where they had around 40,000 enrollees last year...but apparently they're pulling up stakes in the employer market as well.

How many people are we actually talking about?

Providence Health Plan, based in Portland, is Oregon’s third-largest health insurer, covering more than 421,000 Oregonians. It also covers over 13,000 members in Washington and 4,800 in California. 

Yikes. That's around 438,000 people total.

...Most members will keep their current coverage through the end of 2026, giving employers and policyholders time to transition. Providence said it will stop renewing employer group plans as contracts expire but will honor existing agreements.

So who exactly does that leave for them to "refocus on delivering care" to?

Providence officials said the insurance arm plans to continue serving its roughly 55,000 Medicare Advantage members through a partnership with a national insurer, though that agreement is still being finalized. 

Providence also plans to transfer administration of its Medicaid and Medicare supplemental plans to other organizations, which serves roughly 62,900 Oregonians, but officials did not identify potential partners.

OK, so that's actually more like 556,000 enrollees total, although it sounds like these populations won't actually lose coverage.

Still...so they're not even gonna be covering Medicaid, Medicare or MediGap enrollees anymore??? What's left?

...Providence is Oregon’s largest hospital chain, operating eight hospitals and more than 90 clinics across the state.

Ahhhh, there it is.

Having the same company own both the healthcare providers as well as the health insurance arms has always seemed like a bad idea to me (for the massive conflicts of interest alone), but this does seem like a bit of a Monkey's Paw "be careful what you wish for" type of situation...